Public Statements

Statement

U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell issued the following statement today after the Senate Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights Subcommittee, in a party-line vote, voted against the text of the First Amendment and instead approved a Senate Democrat proposal that would weaken the free speech protections contained in the First Amendment to the Constitution:

"Washington Democrats have shown time and again how determined they are to shut down the voices of anyone who has a different point of view. Today -- and quite remarkably -- this determination extended to voting against the text of the First Amendment itself. Washington Democrats seem to forget that the First Amendment is about empowering the people, not the government, but the proposed Democrat amendment has it backwards. It says that Congress and the states can abridge political speech--the speech that is at the very core of the First Amendment. But when it comes to free speech, we shouldn't substitute the incumbent-protection desires of politicians for the protection the Constitution guarantees to all Americans."